Longtime coach leading Swansboro girls BB

By Chris Miller-Prep Sports Writer

Published: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM.

“We do have a lot of communication and I like for her to speak her mind,” Miller said. “It’s a learning experience not just for me and her, but for the kids, too. She brings a wealth of knowledge and she brings a lot to the table with her experience. I know I’ve learned a lot from her in a short amount of time I’ve been fortunate to work with her.”

But while Carlyle had adjusted to life being an assistant coach, she was forced to get back on the saddle as a head coach when Miller recently had knee surgery.

“My goal is to contribute all I can for the program in any way I can,” Carlyle said. “I stepped in for her (Miller) right now as the head position and that’s exactly what I’m doing, just stepping in.”

Carlyle’s goal as the leader of the Pirates is to help the team improve on the fundamentals.

While she is used to winning a lot of games and having her teams compete for conference titles and state championships, she understands it will be a work in progress for Swansboro to grow into a competitive squad.

The Pirates are 2-7 overall and 0-2 in the East Central 2-A Conference. Still, Carlyle has seen improvement.

“Sometimes the score doesn’t tell the whole story,” Carlyle said. “We’ve got quickness on this team, we got some height on this team, we got leadership and we have kids who are big-hearted and who have good grades.

The longtime high school girls’ basketball coach is back on the bench, now serving as acting head coach for Swansboro High while head coach Kim Miller recovers from recent knee surgery.

And Carlyle is enjoying every single moment of it.

“It’s been a little exciting,” she said. “When I get in the gym, I get so wrapped up in it because it’s my passion in my life.”

Carlyle is one of the state’s most successful girls’ basketball coaches, beginning her career in the early 1980’s.

She led Goldsboro to a state championship in 1982 and helped make South Central a state power. Under Carlyle, the Falcons advanced to the NCHSAA East Regionals for five consecutive years from 2007-11, finishing as the state runner-up in 2010 and winning a state championship in 2011.

Carlyle then stepped down in September of 2011 and took a year off from coaching, although she remained a teacher at South Central where she taught Exceptional Children.

During her 10-year tenure at South Central, located in Winterville near Greenville, Carlyle had a house in Emerald Isle, where she now lives.

“I would spend all my weekend here (Emerald Isle) and my summers here and I was anxious to come back,” Carlyle said. “But I couldn’t leave South Central. So I held on to finish with the girls because I knew the team was capable of winning the state championship.”

But after leaving South Central, Carlyle moved to Emerald Isle for good last year, which opened the door for her to come to Swansboro High.

She became a Swansboro teacher and then was approached by the school’s administration to help out with the girls’ basketball team, which was going to be coached by Miller.

Being an assistant coach was new territory for Carlyle, who called former N.C.StateUniversity coach Kay Yow her mentor.

“I’ll be honest, I told Kim and I told (Swansboro principal Christine Andre) and that I wasn’t a good assistant coach,” Carlyle said with a laugh. “Kim has opened the door for me (to be involved), but it is very difficult for me to sit there and stand behind the huddle and to listen instead of talking and to go into halftime and have to wait my turn (to talk to the team.)”

Still, both Carlyle and Miller said the two were always on the same page during practices and in games. They would communication with each other.

“We do have a lot of communication and I like for her to speak her mind,” Miller said. “It’s a learning experience not just for me and her, but for the kids, too. She brings a wealth of knowledge and she brings a lot to the table with her experience. I know I’ve learned a lot from her in a short amount of time I’ve been fortunate to work with her.”

But while Carlyle had adjusted to life being an assistant coach, she was forced to get back on the saddle as a head coach when Miller recently had knee surgery.

“My goal is to contribute all I can for the program in any way I can,” Carlyle said. “I stepped in for her (Miller) right now as the head position and that’s exactly what I’m doing, just stepping in.”

Carlyle’s goal as the leader of the Pirates is to help the team improve on the fundamentals.

While she is used to winning a lot of games and having her teams compete for conference titles and state championships, she understands it will be a work in progress for Swansboro to grow into a competitive squad.

The Pirates are 2-7 overall and 0-2 in the East Central 2-A Conference. Still, Carlyle has seen improvement.

“Sometimes the score doesn’t tell the whole story,” Carlyle said. “We’ve got quickness on this team, we got some height on this team, we got leadership and we have kids who are big-hearted and who have good grades.

“The nucleus of the team is standing out there on the court. They just need some experience. We make too many turnovers, we can play better defense and rebound better. All these things I’ve seen them do in practice, but they are not showing up on the stat sheets. I’ve seen what they can do.

“You have to ask your fans to be patient and you have to ask the girls to give you everything they can.”